Nightmare
by Emo Fox
Summary: Dib has been suffering from nightmares recently. But suddenly his nightmare turns very real. Slight ZaDr if you squint.


"Nightmare"

'One-Shot'

By: Emo Fox

Dib suffered from nightmares ever since he was younger due to his over-active imagination. Said imagination is what got him into the paranormal; in seeing ghosts, aliens, and big foot at every turn.

Currently the boy of sixteen years old was suffering from another bad dream. Sweat coated his bare skin; his blanket discarded to reveal his blue boxers and skinny legs as they kicked at nothing. Dib thrashed in his sleep, some unseen force attacking him, his hands fisting in his space ship printed sheets as moans of displeasure passed through his parted lips.

Words were garbled, whatever he was saying wasn't clear, his head lolling on the pillow before finally he woke with a loud intake of air. Dib panted, sitting up quickly, his hands covering his face as he tried to purge any lingering images from his head.

He didn't know why he was getting such bad dreams now.

He had them sometimes, not frequently, but now they were coming again and again. He hadn't had a good night sleep in ages which left him tired and disorientated and not at all on top of his game for protecting the world like he should. What was so awful about them was that he could never remember what they were about when he woke up. He'd get passing images, words, little things like that but nothing to tell him why he was so troubled.

All he knew was that Zim was involved.

Why he was involved, or what they had been doing, he didn't really have any clue.

"God," Dib finally murmured his voice scratchy from sleep. Slowly he drew his hands away from his eyes, "I wish I knew what was going on." Dib lifted his head and stared forward at his closet. The whole space was a blurry backdrop of blue and black with bits of random color thrown in here and there.

…though he didn't remember such a vibrant red ever being in his room.

Dib's brows furrowed as he stared hard at the two dots of red trying to go through the inventory of his room in his head but he couldn't figure out what they were.

Just as he began to focus the red dots moved and Dib jumped back into his wall, startled. "It's okay, it's nothing, it's just—" Dib tried to wrack his brain for what it could be, "It's, it's…probably…mind playing tricks, that's all." He was talking to himself as usual trying to calm himself down and out of having a panic attack but the red things were getting closer.

Was he really awake?

Was he still dreaming?

Quickly Dib's hand lunged out towards his night stand reaching for his glasses, finding them he quickly put them on and the shapes came into focus and he figured out what the red had been.

Zim's silhouette came from the shadows, the moonlight coming in from the window highlighting his green skin as he approached the bed. "Hello there Dib-thing." He murmured in a low tone, his grin arrogant and his red eyes sparkling with sadistic glee.

Dib tried to reach for his blankets to cover himself up but Zim sat down on the edge of the bed and didn't allow him the courtesy. Dib tried to cover his confusion with anger, "What are you doing here?" He snapped at the alien who didn't even seem bothered by his upset.

"I wanted to see your expression when you witness the destruction of your pathetic planet."

"What are you talking about?" He said quickly, not wanting to believe what the alien just said.

Zim's posture remained casual, his expression un-changing as he watched Dib, "Look." Zim's gloved hand reaching for Dib's shoulder urging him towards the window.

Dib wanted to protest, wanted to fight, but curiosity won and he let himself be guided by the alien. Shoulder to shoulder they sat in front of the window, Zim's hand still on his shoulder. Dib looked out of the thin glass pane, staring and trying to believe what he was seeing.

Ships.

Hundreds, maybe thousands of ships were in the night sky like clusters of giant pink stars. One huge ship stood out above them all, it was huge, looming, the Irken symbol easily seen on the front of it despite the distance.

"What?" Dib's mouth was agape, fear slowly creeping in as realization dawned on him.

This was real.

This was happening.

This was no dream.

Zim laughed his high pitched humorless laugh, "Priceless."

Dib's eyes watered, he choked on his failure. "But," Dib wanted to say something, wanted to ask why this happened.

But deep down he knew it was coming.

It had been over four years and he had been foolish enough to think things had changed between them.

Foolish enough to think the armada would bypass their own soldier despite how much they disliked him.

Foolish enough to think they might've been friends.

"Don't worry." Zim murmured his head close to Dib's; the human could feel his lips on his ear but he was too numb to respond.

This was what Zim wanted all along.

Dib had slacked in his protecting of the world and now the entire Earth was doomed.

It was all his fault.

"You aren't going to die like everyone else." Zim said his tone nearly affectionate.

Dib's brows furrowed, his tears not yet falling as he finally turned his face towards the grinning alien. "Why not?" He said his tone cracking.

His family, his home, his world – it was all going to be gone in a matter of moments.

Explosions broke the silence between them, fire casting an orange glow in the room, high-lighting their features with thick black shadows.

Hope silently stirred inside the human.

Why was he going to be spared?

Perhaps Zim did feel something for him; friendship maybe.

"I want you to live with your failure." Zim said, and Dib's hope plummeted. Dib's disappointment reflected on his face and Zim laughed again.

--

A/N:

Hm. I sketched this out in my head last night before sleeping and tried to remember it this morning. I think it came out alright. Not the greatest I've ever done but I liked this idea. I hope you enjoyed it, even a little bit, maybe enough to leave a review?


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